Popular Post Grayv he/him Posted March 28, 2014 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) I got this from "Words of Brandon (compiled) x2" Q: Szeth a lot of the time throughout Words of Radiance is referring to the fact that he's hearing his victims scream in his head. Is that actually his conscience screaming at him or has he possibly already bonded to a spren in some way, that is displeased with- A: That is not the spren. Good question. It is not...the spren is not a spren that is a...for one of the orders. Q: But it is related to-- A: I didn't say that. I just said it is not a--it is not a blade. It is not one of those. And I got this from the coppermind in the Way of Kings/Epigraphs “Yelig-nar, called Blightwind, was one that could speak like a man, though often his voice was accompanied by the wails of those he consumed.” What if Yelig-nar has been following Szeth around and consuming the souls of those that he (Szeth) has killed, and then somehow projecting the wails of those souls into Szeth's mind? Edit: I just found one other mention of Yelig-Nar, and that is in Chapter 60 of a The Way of Kings. Nohadon says that Yelig-Nar broke into his chancery and slaughtered all his wordsmen. This begs the question: What is Yelig-Nar? If it is a Spren, then it must be very powerful to "slaughter" people because Spren have a hard time affecting the physical realm. Any thoughts? Edited March 28, 2014 by Grayv 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King he/him Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Brilliant! I like this a lot. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this proved to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Sounds possible - plausible even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Star Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Good theory! Considering Tarivangian's interlude and the two massive alien-looking things from the shattered plains, it's very likely that the unmade will start to surface in book 4 (if not book 3). In short: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevalion Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Sweet, always new stuff to find, and that makes sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Thorn Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) Contributory evidence. Syl looked into the sky, then turned her head sharply over her shoulder. “Kaladin. Something is wrong.” “I know.” Syl spun about, twisting this way, then that. Her small eyes opened wide. “He’s coming.” “Who? The storm?” “The one who hates,” she whispered. “The darkness inside. Kaladin, he’s watching. Something’s going to happen. Something bad.” Kaladin hesitated only a moment, then scrambled back into the room, pushing past Adolin and entering the light. “Get the king. We’re leaving. Now.” This is when Kaladin decides to get the hell out of the Pinnacle, taking his Charges with him. They ran into Szeth, but that is not what Sylphrena sensed. She detected the presence of Orium. Szeth if anything should feel closer to Honor due to all the investiture in the Honorbalde. Remember what the Unmade are: Our gods were born splinters of a soul, Of one who seeks to take control, Destroys all lands that he beholds, with spite. They are his spren, his gift, his price. So yeah, you are on to something with connecting Szeths screams to the Blightwind. Edited March 28, 2014 by Bramble Thorn 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 Why wouldn't Syl be referring to Szeth? He is a really hateful guy (which, by the way, may be why his Honorblade eats so much Light). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdash Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 Why wouldn't Syl be referring to Szeth? He is a really hateful guy (which, by the way, may be why his Honorblade eats so much Light). Yes Szeth hates, but what purpose would Syl have in naming him as such. "The one who hates" is a title, Syl clearly uses it because she is afraid of naming the thing she is referring to, and describes him as "the darkness inside" this doesn't seem like something someone would say about a person. Also she says that he is watching; Szeth is not watching he is the one acting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Thorn Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 Why wouldn't Syl be referring to Szeth? He is a really hateful guy (which, by the way, may be why his Honorblade eats so much Light). Throughout the book Kaladin was much, much more hateful than Szeth. Yet that scene was where she freaked out. That was not normal hate. That was "the essence of Hatred" invested hate. Also, I do not even see Szeth as a hateful guy. I cannot see what you are saying at all, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 He hates himself, not other people. I wouldn't be surprised if Odium makes / has made a move on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Thorn Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 He hates himself, not other people. I wouldn't be surprised if Odium makes / has made a move on him. Ah, sorry. Yeah, plenty of self hate there. At least before Darkness told him it was all the Stone Shamans fault before pointing his denial righteous vengeance at them. Still think OP is correct. The Brandons quote implied to me the screams are not just all in his head. I think those are Odiums move on him. Remember he is still on Braize currently. I see most of his influence as at a remove. Also the Honorblade is still Honors Investment. I do not think if Szeth was heavily invested by Odium he would be able to use it as he does. If it was that easy Odium could have just sent a Odium infused Sadeas equivalent to take the Honorblades where they abandoned 4,500 years ago, and gotten 10 more free anti heralds for little cost to himself, because they were being powered by Honor's Power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aheerema he/him Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 I don't know if I accept that its Yelig-nar, but there is certainly something that comes along with Szeth to the Shattered Plains during his first assassination attempt. Further evidence: Pattern also feels the approach in the same chapter: Pattern's hums sounded almost like a whimper. Shallan frowned and leaned down close to him. Were those words? "Bad . . . bad . . . so bad . . ." (Unless he was just singing the NIckleback song.... ) The Stormfather also points to it: AH, the Stormfather said. SO IT WILL END. "What?" Kaladin shouted into the winds. "What changed? I feel-" HE COMES FOR YOU, LITTLE TRAITOR. I AM SORRY. Something rose before Kaladin. A second storm, one of red lightning, so enormous as to make the continent - the world itself - into nothing by comparison. Everything fell into its shadow. I AM SORRY, the Stormfather said. HE COMES. So Szeth comes at the same time as all this disruption in the Cognitive realm, or at least in a way that the spren are aware of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoibheann she/her Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 I like this theory. It makes a lot of sense. However Szeth does hate everyone, himself included. He comments in both books " He hated his victims for being too weak to kill him." He hated the King of Jah Keved for having a feast; Szeth could blame him for all the deaths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccstat he/him Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Props to the OP! I have been trying to figure out what the Szeth-Odium connection is. Those "everstorm approaching" premonitions as Szeth is about to arrive had me confused for a long time. I'd finally come up with a (bad) theory (about how the Honorblade made him aware of Braize and Taln's screams) and was about to post it when I found this thread. The Yelig-Nar idea fills in the holes for me and makes much more sense than what I came up with. Also, that WoB you quote also had me confused before, but reading it with the Unmade in mind makes it quite clear. Consider me convinced! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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